I am an international student who's currently a 2nd year in vet school and I'm starting to look into internships/externships/jobs for summer. I know that getting an employment as an international student may be hard, but what about internships? I believe that your nationality shouldn't matter that much when it comes to externship, but I am a lot more interested in an internship. I wouldn't mind if it's unpaid or really low-paid.

Are there any current international students or recent international student graduates who can give me some comment/advice on this?

There are several potential issues for international students and internships.

VISAs. It can be expensive for programs to sponsor VISAs and due to the added cost some programs don't accept applicants that require a VISA. The timing is another problem. In some cases it's difficult to get the VISA processed in the time from the match (Feb) and start of the internship (July). Of course not all international students need a VISA so that may not apply to you.

There are rule regulating pay for internationals. For example, you mentioned unpaid internships. The US Dept. Labor generally considers unpaid internships illegal for internationals and in some cases the typical intern salary is even too low. This means the program has to pay internationals more than they would a US citizen. Again, this a citizenship issue not a matter of where you graduated, so may or may not apply.

Licensure. Private practice internships and some university internships require a state license to practice. For graduates of non-AVMA accredited schools this is more complicated.

Different grading of some schools. Most programs look at GPA and class rank. A lot of international schools don't use GPA or use a grading system the program directors are not familiar with, which makes comparisons of applicants more difficult.

None of these are necessarily deal breakers, just some issues you may face.

Not sure if they are still accepting application but rural area veterinary service does trips over the summer (a week or two) wellness care in indian reservations. There is a deposit and you have to get yourself there but once there all housing/food etc is covered.

What kind of 'international' student are you? Are you studying at an AVMA accredited vet school? And is that school in the US? Or are you a student in a non-accredited vet school in the country you're a citizen of?

It says they are at Western. I think I recall them being from an Asian country and applying as an international student. But my memory ain't perfect...

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Oh, that makes it easier. Jobs where you're on payroll are generally out of the question if you're on a student visa, but if s/he has a student visa and is already in the country it's easier to find things to do. If I remember correctly, many summer research programs do allow for non-citizens as long as they're not NIH or US Army funded. They generally pay ~$5000 for the summer (which is not bad at all compared to other things you can do as a vet student). Some, if not vet schools that have these programs allow for applications to come from students at other vet schools. If you're already going to be on a vet school campus doing research, you can also contact clinicians at the affiliated teaching hospital if you could come and observe their service during your off time if you really want some clinical fun. Here are a few programs that might be worth looking into: Purdue, Ohio, CSU, Oklahome.

When I did a quick search, Tufts was the only school that said you needed a green card to apply. Oklahoma's program even said that they specifically encourage students from vet schools outside of the US to apply, so I'm guessing they're okay with foreign students. If anything, all of the programs above allows any students from accredited vet schools (including those abroad) to apply, and doesn't stipulate that you need to be a permanent resident, so I think it should be fine. You can always call to make sure. If you're interested, you'll need to try to get in touch with a mentor right away so you can figure out what kind of project you can do with them. It might take a little work, but you still have some time to get a solid application together before most of these deadlines. Good luck!

There is a great opportunity available for vet students interested in doing an international summer research project through the EcoHealth Alliance. You'll be teaming up with veterinarians and epidemiologists studying zoonotic diseases at various locations around the world. The project is fully funded and is open to graduate students from all over the world. The deadline for the application for next summer was just extended to January 3!